ETM seeks other Spanish mines as it waits for Greenland rare earth resolution

Energy Transition Minerals is hoping to expand further in Spain’s Galicia province as it awaits a resolution of legal challenges over its huge rare earths project in Greenland, its managing director said.

Daniel Mamadou told Reuters in an interview that the company expects to restart mining in 18-24 months at the Penouta tin and tantalum project it bought last year in Galicia, where operations were suspended in 2024 after a dispute over environmental permits.

“Galicia itself has a very ambitious plan to restart its mining industry,” Mamadou said, adding that up to 52 old mines are due to be tendered for development.

“We believe that the Penouta operation could be the centre of an expansion in Galicia … we might be able to benefit from economies of scale and position.”

ETM has detailed neither expected production levels nor capex at the Penouta project, but the International Tin Association said the mine produced 351 metric tons of tin in concentrate in 2023.

Seeking dialogue with Greenland

ETM owns the Kvanefjeld project in Greenland, one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits, but has been halted from developing it since a 2021 government ban on uranium, a byproduct.

The company expects a court appearance later this year in its long-running legal dispute with the government over the project.

“We’ve also tried to push a parallel track of dialogue, which so far has not been yielding any meaningful traction, but I think this is about to change,” Mamadou said.

Greenland has been advertising itself as a mining destination open for business, he added.

The firm also said last week exploration has identified new mineralized zones that contain uranium concentrations below the threshold in the government’s uranium ban.

ETM is also in dispute with China’s Shenghe Resources, its second biggest shareholder with a 6% stake, after ETM in April terminated a 2018 deal that envisioned the two jointly developing Kvanefjeld.

Asked if ETM had severed its relationship with Shenghe to attract investment from US and other Western investors as it seeks a Nasdaq listing, Mamadou declined to comment on the dispute.

(By Eric Onstad; Editing by Jan Harvey)